Stanford struggles against Chico but remains undefeated

This was not the greatest performance for Stanford Women’s Rugby. The team struggled to capitalize on penalities and line break opportunities as lack of support led to several poached balls. It wasn’t until 17 minutes into the game when Caitlin Breen ’13 made a great kick into space just off a scrum, and a quick chase by Aly Gleason ’13 led to the game’s first try. Stanford held the momementum as Michelle Batlle ’13 scored the game’s second try, but handling errors, disconnect on the launch and a penalty for not releasing gave Chico a chance to kick for points. First half ended with Stanford up, 10 – 3.

At the start of the second half, aggressive launches on defense and quick clear outs by support led to another try starting from a line break by Gleason to a phenomenal offload to Jamie Lawrence ’13 who grounded it in the corner of the try zone. For the rest of the game, Stanford struggled to get the ball out of their half. Several penalties and a missed tackle led to Chico’s first try of the game. A stolen defensive scrum in Chico’s half created a try opportunity taken by a pick of the scrum by Breen then a pass to Smriti Sridhar ’15, coming on with great pace. That was the last try for the Cardinal, as the rest of the game saw lost possessions, diving into the ruck and several handling errors. The game ended 20 – 18. Chico exposed several weak spots that Stanford looks to strengthen, but the Cardinal remain undefeated.

Stanford vs. Chico State
Final Score: 20 – 18 (win)
Tries scored by:
-Aly Gleason ’13
-Michelle Batlle ’13
-Jamie Lawrence ’13
-Smriti Sridhar ’15